Death Records Now

I have gone to several different sites but they all end up asking for money. I thought death records were public records and anyone should be able to search for a loved one but I’m hitting dead ends everywhere.

I put some links below. I wanted to deal with a common misconception first.

> I thought death records were public records

They are, and if you send the name and death date to the appropriate county courthouse, plus a check, which may be as little as $5 or as much as $35, you can get a copy. There isn’t any law that says a state or county has to spend tax money on a web site to make death records available for free.

By contrast, some records are NOT public; sealed adoptions records, and agreements hashed out between two parties in a civil lawsuit, for instance. You cannot get them no matter how much you pay.

Below:

These are all free. Some have ads at the top, which sometimes ask for a name and take you to a pay site, so be careful to distinguish between the advertisement and the input form. An index will have name, date and maybe something else; death records – 500 KB jpg’s of death certificates – are rare. Some of these say "Records" – I copied the page title – but are really indexes.

Social Security Death Index
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
1960ish – now; almost 90 million entries in November 2010.

Find-a-Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi
53 million entries in November 2010, mostly the USA. Entries range; they may have one or more of:
Exact birth and death dates
A short biography/obituary
Links to the person’s parents’ graves and/or and children’s graves
Picture(s) of the person
The best ones have all of the above; the worst ones have just a name and year of death; "J. Smith, b. ????, d. 1912".

Arizona genealogy
http://genealogy.az.gov/
Births 1855 – 1934; deaths 1844 – 1959. Real records, not an index. Number of entries not given.

California Death index
http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
9,366,786 entries from 1940 – 1997

Kentucky Death Records
(Y!A only allows 10 links per answer, so I cheated. Change the "/ca/" in the URL for the California Death index to "/ky/" to get Kentucky.)
2,921,383 entries from 1911 – 2000

Maine Death Records
Change the "/ca/" in the URL for the California Death index to "/me/" to get Maine.)
401,960 entries from 1960 – 1997

Missouri Digital Archives
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/
Real records; Year range 1910 – "50 years ago", so the upper limit changes by one every year. Number of entries not stated, but it too would grow over time. Not all counties are here.

Texas Death Records
Change the "/ca/" in the URL for the California Death index to "/tx".)
3,963,456 entries from 1964 – 1998

West Virginia Birth, Death and Marriage records
http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_select.aspx
Real records; number of entries not stated. Years vary by county. Here are the first five counties, to give you a feel for it:

Barbour: 1853 – 1859, 1861 – 1969
Berkeley: 1871, 1875 – 1906, 1917 – 1970
Boone: 1865 – 1873, 1877 – 1883, 1885 – 1968
Braxton: 1853 – 1861, 1865, 1867 – 1969
Brooke: 1853 – 1860, 1862, 1865, 1867 – 1868, 1874 – 1880, 1885 – 1970

Could anyone with an ancestry.com account please help me with my family search? There are 3 people that have records that I need to see to make sure it’s them and to learn more about where my family came from, it would be greatly appreciated!
The first one is 1930 United States Federal Census Record for Stana Radoman, and it says the residence is in St. Louis, Minnesota.
The second person is Milo Radoman. There are 2 records for him-New York Passenger Lists 1820-1957, and Minnesota Death Index 1908-2002.
The last person is Andrija (Andria) Radoman. There’s 1 record for him. 1910 United States Federal Census Record.

Any information would be greatly appreciated, this will help me so much with my search!
Thank you! 🙂

1930 United States Federal Census about Stana Radoman
Name: Stana Radoman
Home in 1930: Stuntz, St Louis, Minnesota
Age: 40
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1890
Birthplace: Yugoslavia
Relation to Head of House: Head
Race: White

Household Members: Name Age
Stana Radoman 40
Rade Raskovich 42

Minnesota Death Index, 1908-2002
about Milo Radoman
Name: Milo Radoman
Death Date: 26 May 1917
Death County: Saint Louis
State File Number: 012166
Certificate Number: 012166
Certificate Year: 1917
Record Number: 218933

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
about Milo Radoman
Name: Milo Radoman
Arrival Date: 15 Jul 1907
Birth Year: abt 1867
Birth Location Other: linbotigne
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/Race­/Nationality: Montenegrin
Port of Departure: Havre
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Ship Name: La Bretagne

1910 United States Federal Census
about Andria Radoman
Name: Andria Radoman
Age in 1910: 40
Estimated Birth Year: 1870
Birthplace: Montenegro
Relation to Head of House: The Head of This Camp Lives Else Where (Head) [looks like this may be a logging camp??]
Father’s Birth Place: Montenegro
Mother’s Birth Place: Montenegro
Home in 1910: South Bay, Thurston, Washington
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of immigration: 1907
Andria Radoman 40

With some help from this site I was able to find my Great Grandfather William P Jones in the 1920 Census (thanks Ted Pack). And using free sites recomended from another site I was able to find them in the 1910 Census. And also found a possible death Certificate for him!! But now I am stuck and have a few more questions.

Below is the Death Cetificate I found. Acording to my aunt he lived in Puyallup when he died wich was before she was born so she is not 100% sure but is sure my Grandmother jane died in Puyallup in the 40’s. So this looks like it may be him. I wrote to the Puyallop library and they could not find a Obit for him. I also wrote to the Pierce county library and am awaiting a responce. So my Question is am I on the right track here? Is there another way to verify this record? My hope was that a Obit would contain more info and hopefully confirm that this is my G Grandfather and maybe give some more information as to my family history.

Name: William P. Jones
Death Date: 10 Nov 1929
Death Place: Puyallup, Pierce, Washington
Gender: Male
Race (Displayed on Form):
Age at Death: 73 years 7 months 18 days
Estimated Birth Year: 1856
Birth Date:
Birth Place:
Marital Status: Married
Spouse’s Name: Jane Jones
Father’s Name: James Jones
Father’s Birth Place:
Mother’s Name: Griffits
Mother’s Birth Place:
Occupation:
Street Address:
Residence:
Cemetery:
Burial Place:
Burial Date:
Additional Relatives:
Film Number: 2022645
Digital GS Number: 4222938
Image Number: 1776
Volume/Page/Certificate Number: 565

I also have noticed that the ages given in the 1910 and 1920 census do not match up. However in 1910 a Dosha Jones is listed along with a Martha Jones. My aunt verified that Dosha is her aunts name (my great aunt). I will copy the 2 census pages below could these be the same family even though the ages don’t mach up?

1920
Name: Jane Jones
Residence: , Lewis, Washington
Estimated Birth Year: 1876
Age: 44
Birthplace: Ohio
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Father’s Birthplace: United States
Mother’s Birthplace: United States
Film Number: 1821933
Digital Folder Number: 4390969
Image Number: 00537
Sheet Number: 5
Household Gender Age
Spouse William P Jones M 56y
Jane Jones F 44y
Child Martha M Jones F 17y
Child George W Jones M 6y

1910
Name: Jane Jones
Birthplace: Ohio
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Residence: Prescott, Lewis, Washington
Marital Status: Married
Race : White
Gender: Female
Immigration Year:
Father’s Birthplace: Michigan
Mother’s Birthplace: Virginia
Family Number: 83
Page Number: 17
Household Gender Age
Spouse William Jones M 55y
Jane Jones F 43y
Child Dosha Jones F 11y
Child Martha Jones F 9y

I know this is a long winded question. And also that it has multiple questions in it. I just don’t know much as far as how to look stuff up and how to verify things that i do find.

Thanks
Ian

Ages in census records are frequently incorrect. I’d say you have the correct family. Since it says Dosha and Martha were born in Kansas, I would look for the family there in around 1900. Actually you did well to find the information you did. I just wasted 15 minutes with Ancestry’s "great new" search engine and couldn’t get the 1920 census at all.

A few other things I noticed that might help, his parents were from Wales and he and Jane were married in about 1896.

my boyfriends mom died about, 10 years ago in San antonio Texas. and when i look for an obituary or death record it wont show up anything. but when i people search her it brings her up. what is a good website where i could possibly read details… or just see an obituary or something. thank you

You won’t find her death record on line, for privacy’s sake.

You might find her obituary in the library, in old newspapers on microfilm.
About one find-a-grave entry in 20 has an obituary attached; you could try it.
http://www.findagrave.com

If you don’t live close enough to San Antonio to visit the library, you can send them a small check ($5 ought to do it) and a SASE and they will either send it to you or return your check.

You can probably find her exact death date here:
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
California Death Records 9,366,786 records from 1940 thru 1997

Warning 1: It is an index; the most you’ll get is name, sex, birthdate, birth state, father’s surname, mother’s maiden name, residence at time of death, death date. That’s the most; many records have blank fields.

Warning 2: It is supported by advertising. The ads rotate. Sometimes the ad asks for a name and leads you to a pay site. Scroll down past the ad.

www.findagrave.com is nation-wide and free. It has some entries for California. The entries range from the simple (John Smith, 1903 – 1971) to the elaborate; some have biographies, cause of death (especially if the person died in an accident, in battle, or of a disease) and links to spouses and/or parents and/or children.

You can find obituaries in old newspapers on microfilm in libraries. They usually don’t mention cause of death, but they usually have a mini-biography.

I know the name and birth year and death year…im not sure whether they are buried in New York or in New Jersey…but i might visit so i need to know where to pay my respects….how can i find out where some1 is buried,and which cemetary?who would i need to get in contact with?

They might be on www.findagrave.com

http://www.tedpack.org/obit.html has four ways to find an obituary, with links. Obits almost always say where the person is buried.

If you find him on
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
you may get the exact death date.

It would be slow and costly to get a death certificate, but you may have to.

If you post what you know, here or in a new post, someone may be able to help. Ancestry has digitized millions of newspaper pages, including obits.

Franklin Jefferson Moore b 1 Feb 1925 Dallas,Texas to Mr. and Mrs. Revely A. Moore.
Listed in the US Roster of World War II Dead.
Service Branch: Navy
Rank: Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class
Service Number: 6168136
I do not know much more than that, not even a death date other than bef 1945. Can anyone help me as I have searched all my sources and found nothing.

Many of the Army records were lost.

If you are next of kin you can get full records. Otherwise you can get a summary of his records. Ask the next of kin to get the records for you.

You can start here: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/get-service-records.html

what kind of information can you find on the social security death index?…I’m doing some family research and I was able to find my gg-grandfather’s ssdi, it has his birthday (dec. 25, 1860) and death-date (jun. 18, 1965) and where he died (Tulare, California), but nothing about the parents…other family member’s index’s have had something about parents on them, even if it’s the father’s surname or mother’s maiden…I also am having trouble finding a death certificate. Where would I look for that, and would his parent’s info for sure be on that?

I’ve been using Ancestry, Family Search Org, Roots web, and Family History Records data bases.
will it be my best bet to order the actual death certificate for his parent’s information?

The on-line SSDI has jus what you saw; name, birth date, death date, last residence and last benefeit, one of which may be th death place, and where the SSN was issued.

The SSN application, which costs $27, will have parents’ names, exact birth place, address and occupation at the time, and, for women, maiden name. Roots Web’s SSDI will format a letter to the SSA for you; click on "SS-5", print, add a check and wait 6 – 8 weeks.

The California Death Index, by Roots Web, has father’s surname and mother’s maiden name, sometimes. No SSDI I have seen has anything about parents. Some other death indicies do, most don’t.

birth raymond l leach st louis mo

Do you have any more clues?

I found this
Name: Raymond Edwin Leach
Social Security #: 556545319
Sex: MALE
Birth Date: 5 Jun 1906
Birthplace: Missouri
Death Date: 2 Jul 1995
Death Place: Sacramento

Are you looking for information on finding free death records online? There are many different reasons why you might want to look for free death records. A very popular reason many people choose for doing this is to find out more about their family history. They may search to do a family tree or to track their genealogy.

Whatever the reasons you have for finding free death records online, it’s important to understand that this can be done quicker and easier than ever before. You can find important vital records such as the death history of someone or a family from the Internet. In the past, it wouldn’t have been so easy to track down these death records.

If you know where the person died, you could go to the local government in that state or records-keeping courthouse to public records on the person. This will typically be the most accurate method of finding death records and in the past, this was pretty much the only method. That is not true anymore today.

Now if you have a computer with an Internet connection, you can begin finding free death records of almost anyone to have ever died in the United States. Laws dictate that these records must be filed and kept in regards to deaths of people in this country. The records are also available to the public if you know how and where to look for them. Only in rare cases are the death records sealed by the courts, sometimes for the protection of the family.

The exact amount of information listed in the death record may vary depending on the state. There is also different information that you will find depending on which service you use to get the death record. Some databases will only give you a certain amount of information for free and then you will need to pay a fee of some sort to obtain the rest of the information in the report.

So what are some things you can find in this death record? Usually you will get the date of death, date of birth, obituary/death notice, cemetery location, records of spouses, records of other family members, cause of death, death certificate, funeral records, genealogy database and more. The best part is that you can often get all of this information for free online and in just a short amount of time. All you need to know is the name and state of the person you are looking for.

If you don’t know the state of death, you can always search nationwide but if multiple results come up, it might be more difficult to narrow down which ones are the right ones for you without having more information. The more info you have, the better but you can still do a search with no more than a name.

Internet databases are now becoming the most common method of searching for these types of public records. They are quick, easy and accurate and all can be found from your home computer with ease.

Rose Quadee
http://www.articlesbase.com/relationships-articles/finding-free-death-records-online-695679.html